One year ago the WB network did something incredibly stupid. They canceled Angel, a series that had yet to reach its prime and was one of the best written shows on any network for that year. Since then the WB's ratings for the majority of its shows have fallen, and the show that replaced Angel has been canceled.
So here's to Angel and the Buffyverse, and may Serenity be the success that it deserves to be on September 30th.

I saw the signs, and it opened up my eyes, and I will probably put off the reformat until I lose everything!!!
Ok, so maybe I'm not Ace of Base, but today left me frazzled. My laptop would not boot up, and once it did the sound died. I tried upgrading the drivers, removing the drivers, accidently deleting an unrecoverable driver, and thankfully System Restore fixed the later. Finally, I realized that my sound problems began after I installed a firewall on Thursday, so I did another restore, and my sound problems were fixed.
Then my laptop died again while I was watching a recap of American Idol and downloading last night's episode of Numb3rs. It's just not fair! So, as soon as I receive my copy of SP2 from Mr. Gates, I'll be doing a reformat.
Oy!

Zach's posts are here and here.
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When I brought up the fair use argument I wasn't refering to the mp3 player, and in a license situation you're right, ideally there's no ownership. There's only a reserved right to listen to the music for as long as the consumer pays for the subscription.
Here's a typical license situation (courtesy of the MBE portion of the Bar Exam). A baseball fan purchases season tickets for his favorite team. He doesn't own the seat, or the stadium, or even the team. He just gets to go and enjoy what he loves best with no strings attached: baseball.
If he becomes a menace to the other patrons then the stadium can kick him out. His license can be revoked. What's important for this situation though is, the man knew what he was getting, and what he was losing.
My problem with Napster is that many people will be signing up for this deal with the impression that they'll get to keep the music much like you do with cd purchases. Why else would you compare it to iTunes and blatantly say it's a cheaper and faster way to fill up an mp3 player. And unfortunately many people won't realize that the music will disappear if they cancel their subscription. Sadly, many people don't realize that they have a right to rip copies of their cds, make them into mp3s, unrestricted, upload them to their iPOD or iRiver without them disappearing.
I'm all for a service like iTunes or Napster, but when it includes DRM, and when it appears misleading and lacks the fair use component, that's when the warning bells go off.
As for satellite radio, I still think it's a better alternative. Napster costs $15 a month, and while it does give you control over your playlist, it still has the DRM controls. Satellite on the other hand can cost between $9-$13, and though there is no control over the playlist, there's more exposure to music you might never had heard before, and you can record it, and it's cheaper.

It's days like these I really wish I were in New Orleans. Not because I'm bored and think San Antonio could be a livelier city. Not because I could be getting nekkid with the natives for oodles of beads, though honestly that's so last year.
It's because Lent starts tomorrow, and The Powers That Be have decided to drop Girl Scout cookies in my lap. Oh, fate can be so cruel!
Now, I'm a true believer in the whole "giving up material things" as being petty. As a non-practicing Catholic trying to jump back into the fray, I always try to do something worthwhile. Afterall, Lent is about suffering and repentance, and suffering, and have I mentioned suffering.
I've always seen it as a way to cleanse the soul so to speak, and as per usual I think I will yet again pledge to do an act of kindness everyday and try not to be so much of a smart ass. It will not apply to this blog! I revel in my miserable attempts at sarcasm.
As for the petty, well my roommate is going to make me give up something. I gave up Dr. Pepper last time. Maybe coffee or sodas in general? Or nothing at all?
PS. In the comments, I'm not replying to myself. My mother and I have the same name, and she decided to make an appearance. 😉

Okay, so maybe it's not a done deal for the Patriots. Hello!!! What the hell are you doing!! Get with the program.
Anyway, there was one commercial that did pass the test. Ok, well two.
War of the Worlds: This speaks to the movie fanatic in me, and it's a Spielberg movie. And it was a new clip. Oh yeah.
The Verizon commercial was funny too, but only because it was amusing to see Cristina being blown away by a hair dryer.

Eh.
The game itself is alright.
The ads are just dull. No, seriously. They're pitiful. Am I supposed to laugh at a washed up MC Hammer? I've seen better. And though it was nice to see all those people clapping at the soldiers as they walked through the airport, I can't help but think of the ad Anheuser-Busch originally intended us to see.
Where did all the good ads go? Oh, they ran away from the big bad FCC.

It isn't over yet. A judge in New York City has ruled that a ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional. Of course the impact of the ruling won't be felt if an appeals court grants the city a stay, but it's still rather thrilling to see rulings like these.

The CBLDF just won its case against US Customs. Apparently they seized a comic which was a parody of Richie Rich, and claimed it was copyright infringement. Thankfully, they were able to see the error of such a claim.
Via Neil Gaiman

Alrighty then. I have a ton of invites. So, leave me a comment and I'll give you one. Trust me, it's impossible for me to run out of them. Methinks they're preparing to jump out of Beta.

A Vermont company has decided to stop selling a teddy bear wrapped in a straight jacket after advocacy groups decried it insulted the mentally ill.
In other news Hallmark has decided to stop selling teddy bears because they innacurately portray bears.